Feeding Mind, Body, and Spirit

ABOUT A YEAR AGO, Chris Flug turned to St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church Rev. Cathie Sklenar-Studwell looking to volunteer.

He had recently returned to college part-time, moving from an engineering major several years earlier to a humanities major with a history/anthropology track at Ramapo College of New Jersey.

He found himself learning a lot about society—how it functions and the ways in which it fails to take care of people, he says, and began to feel directionless despite enjoying the return to academia.

“It felt very hands off to be reading so much about people’s challenges and struggles and then submitting a homework assignment and that’s it,” Flug, 23, says. “It wasn’t sitting right with me. Even though I live in Bergen County, and have for more than 10 years now, I still wanted to give back. I didn’t feel content taking the resources provided to me by my parents and not doing anything with it.”

Sklenar-Studwell mentioned the food pantry to Flug, a Waldwick resident and parishioner at St. Bart’s, and he thought it was a good place to start. Since, he’s had the pleasure of helping it grow and thrive, from an operation that simply provided food to those in need to one that also offers them books, clothing, and most importantly, human connection.

FOSTERING CONNECTION

Sklenar-Studwell says that before the pandemic, St. Bart’s did a monthly food collection to benefit the Center for Food Action. The pandemic interrupted that arrangement. The pastor decided to move the collection outdoors to comply with regulations and keep everyone safe. It had the added benefit of being more visible and open to the community at large, Sklenar-Studwell says.

By that time, she knew that parishioner Judy Malhotra had relationship with Oasis: A Haven for Women and Children in Paterson. The retired art teacher began volunteering there, working with teen girls to paint a mural and then teaching an art class for the Rise and Shine tutoring and enrichment program. So, the church began collecting food for Oasis.

Sklenar-Studwell says one day, during the collection hours, a woman approached. She had no bags in her hands, and though there was a language barrier—the woman only spoke Spanish—it became clear she was looking for food then and there. Volunteers were able to give her some ShopRite gift cards.

The next month, she returned, the pastor says, this time with more people in need.

“This is Ho-Ho-Kus—it has a certain socioeconomic base, but this woman walked here which means she’s not living that far away,” Sklenar-Studwell says. “We wanted to help but that’s not what the purpose of the food collection was, so we began to take a look at what we could do.”

Sklenar-Studwell says by the summer of 2023, a food pantry began to come together. Word of mouth, flyers, and social media helped get the message out. Since its inception, different groups like the Girl Scouts and other students have volunteered and helped keep the shelves stocked. The pantry has grown from operating once a month to three times a month: the first, second and fourth Saturday of the month.

And yet, Sklenar-Studwell began to notice areas where more help was needed. Last winter, she says someone arrived at the pantry on a cold day without appropriate clothing to keep them warm.

“Oh—this is another need,” she thought.

Flug says he, Sklenar-Studwell and other volunteers would often sit around after people moved through the pantry and brainstorm how the space and services could be expanded and diversified.

When it became clear those visiting also needed clothing, they reworked the existing “Bart’s Closet”, so it was more accessible to those coming for food.

Sklenar-Studwell says their offerings expanded once again when they created a small library.

“We have two mottos: ‘Come and See’ and ‘Feeding the Mind, Body and Spirit’,” she says. “We’re trying to provide well-rounded services. It’s great if you eat, but if you’re freezing and illiterate, that don’t help either. We want to do as much as we can to help all around.”

Flug says one of Sklenar-Studwell’s best ideas that at the time seemed tough to execute is now fully functional: a café-like area amidst the pantry and closet, where people could gather to connect.

Sklenar-Studwell says typically at food pantries, people come with bags, get food and then leave. She wanted people to get more from their time at St. Bart’s.

“This is about getting to know people. We have in the center of the area a table with a coffee pot and homemade cookies, and we encourage people to come sit and talk,” she says. “Yes, you got the food but what’s going on in your week? That’s what’s filling. We all need sustenance, but if you don’t have the spirit something is missing. Fostering this connection is what makes me happiest”.

These opportunities to volunteer are what Malhotra likes best about being a parishioner at St. Bart’s—a community she calls “totally welcoming.”

“It’s a very service-oriented church, which is appealing,” Malhotra says. “You don’t feel like you’re just hearing the same thing over and over again. It’s ‘OK, you heard it—now go do something.’ This is the whole purpose of the church being here—it’s not just to look nice and make you feel good about going. It’s about servicing the community.”

Sklenar-Studwell says there are plans to expand outreach even further; she and a group of parishioners are taking Spanish lessons with plans to offer small worship services in Spanish during pantry hours. Next year, she’s hopeful they will be able to offer an ESL (English as a Second Language) class.

The pastor says about 25 to 30 people typically show up at the food pantry. The volunteers don’t ask questions, but she believes most are food scarce, not homeless. She says it’s noticeable when she shops for the pantry just how much food prices have gone up, making it difficult for people to keep up.

Flug says statistics and academic literature would argue that hunger and food scarcity are not major issues in Bergen County. It would be easy to write it off if that was your only exposure to it, he says, but getting involved with the needs of his local community has shown him that there’s a lot of valuable work to be done.

Volunteering at the food pantry has gone beyond just fulfilling the activity/engagement he was hoping to get out of it, Flug says.

“It’s taught me more valuable lessons than a lot of my time in academia,” he says. “Helping the community and volunteering your time is not just about giving back. It allows you to become a more engaged participant in your community and work toward solving problems. It’s been tremendously fulfilling, and I’ve loved watching it grow.”

BY SARAH NOLAN